Gambling Revenues in the UK Increase

British remote gaming revenues have crossed the £1bn threshold. An Industry Statistics report released Friday announced the rise of total Gross Gaming Yield (GGY) licensed by the British Gambling Commission from a £933m total in the 12 months prior to March 2013 to a £1.06bn take for the year ending September 30, 2013.

The 16% increase represented a contribution of 16% from the remote gambling industry to total gambling revenues (which includes land-based operations).

Annual Gambling Percentages for Remote Beginning to Climb

This represents a further 14% jump in percentage of total revenue contributed by remote gambling over the previous annual period. The rise meant that the remote gambling industry contributed 16% of total GGY for the gambling industry as a whole, up from 14% during the previous period.

Percentages: High Street Leads Physical Gambling Contributions

The greatest proportion of land-based revenues in the UK comes from High street betting shops, which brought in £3.2bn across the September 30 annual period, which contributed to the £6.7bn national gambling industry at a rate of approximately 48%.

The most popular gambling revenue in the GGY remains sports wagers, with Sportsbooks accounting for £879m, a jump from the previous period's £753m figure. This total also outdistanced pool betting (£108m) and casino takes (£30m), the second and third largest contributors to GGY.

Of remote vertical games, bingo was the only one to suffer a decline, recording £2m of GGY, a drop from the £2.5m showing from the previous annual period.

New Legislation Brings All UK Gaming Activity under British Licensure

Future reports are sure to show more significant improvement, primarily because of the fact that all UK serving operators are slotted for full licensing from the British Gambling Commission as of October 1.

This comes on the heels of last month's passage of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill last month in the UK, giving the British Government far greater access to remote gambling revenues, based on the actual level of gaming activity that takes place within its jurisdiction.

Until now, the majority of remote gambling activity in the UK was conducted under the auspices of offshore operators with permits from other jurisdictions. The Commission estimates placed the figure at 15% the for the amount of remote gambling in Great Britain actually being conducted under British licensing.